NC police get smart-phone access to crime database

By Rutrell Yasin

Aug 03, 2012

Law enforcement officers in North Carolina can now access the state’s comprehensive criminal database from their smart phones and tablet computers, helping them to apprehend and put criminals behind bars faster, according to the state controller.

The mobile version of the Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data Services database allows police and other criminal justice professionals who do not have access to computers or are outside their offices to log on and retrieve information from CJLEADS.

CJLEADS replaces the manual and labor-intensive process of looking up historical criminal data from multiple systems and places. At the same time, the system reduces the risk of overlooking critical data and fulfils the information needs of law enforcement agencies, said State Controller David McCoy.

“CJLEADS is proving to be a major, if not the first, tool that officers turn to when they are on the street or doing surveillance work and need reliable and quick information about a suspect,” McCoy said.

“Since more and more law enforcement officers are using their smart phones and tablets, we believe it is critical to provide those on the front line, as well as the other criminal justice professionals, with an easy way to use CJLEADS on these devices as well,” he said.

Officers on the street can know immediately what an offender looks like, if they need to approach with caution or if there are orders for an arrest or warrant out on a suspect.

The mobile application has been beta tested by various law enforcement agencies for the last month. Their feedback and suggestions were used to ensure the application meets their needs, McCoy noted.

The Office of the State Controller worked with SAS to develop CJLEADS, which integrates data found within the state’s various criminal justice databases, including warrants, jail records, court records, prison records, probation and parole status, the sex offender registration and DMV information. CJLEADS provides up-to-date criminal information in a centralized location via a secure connection.

More than 21,000 criminal justice professionals in North Carolina are using CJLEADS. Since CJLEADS was initially deployed in June 2010, law enforcement officers have conducted more than 7.3 million searches and accessed nearly 6.2 million offender and DMV records.